Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The UK Government place a high priority on combating the proliferation of small arms and light weapons and are supportive of plans to establish a National Council for small arms control in Georgia. Our ambassador to Georgia recently spoke at a seminar on this issue in Tbilisi, organised by the UK non-governmental organisation Saferworid in collaboration with the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development. His speech highlighted the UK objectives of: strengthening controls on the supply of small arms and light weapons; reducing the availability of weapons; and addressing the demand for weapons. Following the seminar, the government of Georgia made a commitment to establish an inter-agency commission on arms in the near future. The UK provides financial support to Saferworld for its work in Georgia through the Global Conflict Prevention Pool.

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: We fully support the government of Malawi in their drive against corruption. The UK is also the principal contributor to the Anti-Corruption Bureau's budget, and has been at the forefront of developing a national integrity framework to raise standards of probity in public life.
	We have no plans to make representations in the case of the former Finance Minister, Friday Jumbe, which is before the courts.

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The UK, as lead nation in Multi-National Division South East (MND SE), works closely with our allies, including Iraq, to provide the necessary security arrangements in light of any withdrawals from that sector.
	We welcome Australia's decision to send 450 troops to al-Muthanna province, which will greatly assist the task of replacing Dutch forces that withdrew in March. New Zealand's contingent of military engineers withdrew from Basra in September 2004, when their mission was complete. This was closely co-ordinated with the UK.
	Poland, Ukraine, and Italy have all made it clear that they will discuss any drawdown with their Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) and Iraqi partners. Italy has made clear that any drawdown will also be dependent on the development of the Iraqi Security Forces.
	As lead nation in MNF-I US forces replaced the departing Spanish forces in May 2004.

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What consideration they have given to the recommendations of Room for improvement: a manifesto for children, published by a coalition of children's charities; and whether there is any action they will be taking.

Baroness Hollis of Heigham: No such study has been undertaken. It is for individual countries to develop policies and laws to protect the interests of members of private and occupational pension schemes, although the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (OPRA) has cases where it is dealing with parent companies abroad.
	In cases where the parent company is domiciled outside the UK and the UK company is unable or unwilling to stand behind its pension promises, OPRA—from 6 April 2005, the Pensions Regulator—will engage with the parent company and, where appropriate, exercise powers to try and protect the pension scheme.
	It is expected that most companies want to stand behind their pension obligations. The EU directive on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision (directive 2003/41/EC) will provide a common framework of protection across EU member states.

Lord Warner: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has introduced a number of services to assist trialists in the preparation of their Clinical Trial Authorisation applications. These include:
	Enquiry help lines by phone and e-mail so that prospective applicants could discuss with assessment staff what was needed in their application and how to fill out the forms.
	Detailed information published on the MHRA's website including "Frequently Asked Questions and Answers" and "How to submit a Clinical Trial Authorisation application".
	Specimen "mock" applications as examples of what was needed.
	In addition a number of workshops and symposia have been organised to both communicate the changes required by the directive and assist in the interpretation of these requirements.
	The MHRA and the department have jointly worked on projects such as the Department of Health/Medical Research Council Joint Project and the United Kingdom Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) to develop, communicate and share best practice in relation to research governance and statutory regulations, particularly in relation to academic research.
	The department, including the MHRA, will continue to remain in close contact with interested parties in the UK through the UKCRC and will coordinate the sharing of best practice and guidance through this group in the future.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Under Her Majesty's Government's policy on security vetting, there are established arrangements for individuals requiring a counter-terrorist check (CTC) to be checked against the National Collection of Criminal Records. These records do not include details of people thought to be unsuitable to work with young people or vulnerable adults. Such information is held by the Criminal Records Bureau(CRB). It would, therefore, be inappropriate to assume that the fact that a person holds a current CTC clearance would necessarily mean that they fulfil the criteria to pass a CRB check.